Keeping your home warm is important for your health and wellbeing. However, with energy bills rising, this is becoming difficult for many people.
The average annual bill has almost doubled since this time last year, from £1,271 to £2,500. Bills are set to rise further from April, up to £3,000 a year on average, as Government support changes, and the energy price guarantee is increased.
Friday 2 December is National Energy Action (NEA)’s Fuel Poverty Awareness Day. NEA predict that 6.7 million UK households need to spend 10% or more than their income on energy in order to keep their home warm and healthy.
We want our customers to know what support is available to them if they are struggling to keep their homes warm.
Our Energy Advice Officer, Lucy Betts, said: “It is so important our customers are able to keep their homes warm this winter and beyond.
“With higher energy costs, we understand that many customers may be worried about heating their homes. However, living rooms need to remain between 18C and 21C, or between 16C and 20C for babies’ rooms, to be healthy.
“There is support available for any of our customers who need it. Our Energy Advice page is full of useful information and resources to help you save energy, manage your bills and access support.
"This includes information on the energy advice agencies in your area. We would really encourage our customers to get in touch with these agencies if they need help with their energy bills. They offer a variety of support, including advice and practical solutions. For example, Community Energy Plus are offering winter warmth boxes to those who have vulnerabilities.
“We are regularly updating the Energy Advice page with information on grants and financial support available too. Many customers may not realise they are eligible for some of the support available, so we would really encourage people to take a look and see what they can apply for. Your local energy advice agency can also help you find and apply for grants.
“Bills are high right now and there is no shame in reaching out for support to help you keep your home warm.”
You can visit our Energy Advice page here.
It is important customers avoid turning off safety features in their home in order to try and save money on bills. This includes extractor fans and legionella tests on boilers, which you can read more about here. The savings are likely to be very minimal, and can put you at risk.
We have a range of recent resources on saving energy at home, including:
How you can save up to £385* a year on your energy bills – Infographic
10 top tips to save energy at home – Article
Energy advice – Infographic
We are also working to make our homes more energy efficient, to save our customers money on their energy bills.
We are investing around £38m into 9,000 of our existing rental homes, improving their energy efficiency and bringing them up to Energy Performance Certificate C by 2028 – this is two years ahead of the Government’s target.
These improvements include installing cavity wall, loft and external wall insulation, and the installation of heat pump heating systems, solar panels, and new doors and windows.
This will make a real difference to many customers’ homes, helping to reduce energy consumption as the cost to heat homes increases.
Find out more about our Cby28 programme on our Sustainability page.